437 Allen Street

Description

Welcome to The Chancery Building, an 1885 Queen Anne Victorian rising three stories behind a corner turret with conical roof and finial, its cross-gabled roofline and projecting bays adding to the architectural presence. Just a few blocks from Warren Street on a peaceful tree-lined street in Hudson's historic district, the property is fully leased and currently home to six commercial tenants generating steady income. Originally constructed for residential living, the building has transitioned to mixed-use while retaining many of its original historic details. Three separate street-level entrances, parking for six cars, and a flexible layout make it equally suited to continued leasing, an owner-operator's business, a live/work arrangement, or a return to full residential use. It’s as adaptable as it is architecturally distinct. Original architectural detail carries through the building, from egg-and-dart cornices and carved rosette blocks to Corinthian-capped fluted pilasters framing the principal doorways on the main level. A double-door entry of stained oak, its upper panels glazed and lower panels raised and paneled in the Victorian manner, opens beneath a covered porch with a turned wood balustrade. Exposed, original diamond parquet flooring, worked in contrasting light and dark wood, remains intact. A switchback staircase rises beneath a paneled skylight, its dark turned banister and painted spindle balustrade original to the house's construction. One room retains an Eastlake mantel in ebonized wood, carved with fleur-de-lis and scrollwork and topped by a beveled mirror overmantel, its hearth and surround laid in green ceramic tile. Individual office suites keep their crown molding, chair rails, and tall double-hung windows in full wood surrounds, with some opening onto projecting bay windows. The building includes four bathrooms, two finished and two awaiting completion on the third floor, offering a future owner room to finish the space to their own specifications; the third floor as a whole is ready for renovation and open to a new owner's vision. The lot includes parking for six cars, uncommon in this part of Hudson's historic core, with mature evergreen plantings lining the front walk. The building is heated by electric radiators and cooled by central air, and recent capital improvements include a new roof, a new building-wide fire alarm system, updated electrical, and fresh paint. Just steps from Hudson's historic Court House Square, with views toward the neighboring Gothic Revival stone architecture from its bay windows, The Chancery Building sits within an easy walk of downtown dining and shopping, the Amtrak station, and the waterfront. Whether continued as income-producing office space, used as an owner-operator's business, or adapted into a live/work or fulltime residence, The Chancery Building offers a rare pairing of architectural character and flexibility in the heart of Hudson.